Was Mary Magdalene--Mary of Magdala--the sinner who found her Messiah in a crowded room of angry men? If you research Mary Magdalene, you find stories of the biblical foot washing by the sinner.
John 2:11 puts the lie to that. He writes that Mary of Bethany--sister to Martha and Lazarus--went into that room and washed her Master’s feet with her tears, and heard Jesus say, “go and sin no more.”
Why did three unmarried siblings live together in a time when God gave children to women as his greatest reward? Did they suffer under the stigma of Mary’s sin?
In Martha’s Sister, Beloved Prodigal, Mary decided to cast her lot with Gersham, son of the brothel leader, Martha's husband gave her a paper of divorce because, as an important man, he didn't want Mary's reputation to stain him. Staid and responsible Martha grieved because the divorce left her with no prospects for family and children, her heart's desire. No man wanted a divorced woman. Martha and Lazarus also suffered because of the loss of their little sister.
After they met Jesus and became his disciples, the family lived in dangerous times. When the Sanhedrin put a price on Jesus, they also put one on Lazarus. Jesus called him from the tomb, proving the power of God. They didn’t want Lazarus to move in society advertising the truth of Jesus’ deity.
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were real, flawed people. Despite the perilous times, they laughed, they hurt, and Jesus called them friends. Walk with them through the most important decade in history.
